Denis; for you well know that when Madame Louise sent me some
years ago, through your highness, a letter which I read, that I
never again will receive and read letters from the prioress. Have
the goodness, then, to take this back to the sender."
"You know, madame, that this is an affront directed against a
princess of France!" was the emphatic reply.
"I know, madame, that that letter which I then received from Madame
Louise was an affront directed by the princess against the Queen of
France, and I shall protect the majesty of my station from a similar
affront. Unquestionably this letter is similar in tone to that one.
That one contained charges which went so far as to involve open
condemnation, and contained proffers of counsel which meant little
less than calumny. [Footnote: Gondrecourt, "Histoire de Marie
Antoinette," p. 59.] And what would this be likely to contain
different, which your highness takes the trouble to bring to me?"
"Well," cried Madame Adelaide, angrily, "its purport may be similar
to that of the former letter; for, unfortunately, the causes are the
same, and we may not wonder if the effects are also the same."
"Ah! one can easily see that your highness knows the contents of the
letter," said Marie Antoinette, smiling, "and you will therefore
certainly pardon me for not reading it.
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